After breakfast I headed out. Cordoba is a big university town. There are a lot of churches and museums. Because it was Sunday, my options were limited.

I decided to hit a modern art museum. It was fairly small so did not take much time. I went into the wrong museum first but it was more classical art and while it looked nice in the lobby, it wasn’t what I had in mind. This is what I had in mind.

The structure below was the entrance to the museum. It was just sort of ‘there’ yet I still went to the wrong building.

The art museum did not take much time at all. One of the other places on my short list was the Paseo del Buen Pastor. It piqued my interest. It was a women’s jail – and most of the women were held for political reasons.

I basically circled the area several times because it didn’t even look like a jail. There were exhibits and cafes and a waterfall surrounding the facility and it was easy to miss — if you thought you were looking for an old run down jail.

These tiles were in the cement all around the jail. They each had quotes and I thought this was a nice one. This is the translation as I figured.

Translation: One word, one extended hand, a hug, advice, always someone who has to fight.

Since these women were detained for political movements, I thought this summed it up perfectly.

The staff at the hotel were so helpful. The bartender clearly was great, and the front desk manager on duty helped me figure out my plan for the next day.

The bus was another doozy — ten hours. In order to get to Mendoza before the sun went down, I’d need a bus that left around sunrise. A few glasses of wine in, this was no longer an option.

I could take a night bus the following night, but that would mean no Super Bowl (and let’s be clear, it wasn’t so much for the Super Bowl but for the camaraderie that accompanies it). Plus, I was planning to be in Mendoza for a few days so it would have been nice to meet some other travelers early in my stay.

But, my new bff at the front desk told me, that I could also take a flight. We looked at the price and if I took the one at 5.40pm, I figured it was actually only $30 more than the bus. I didn’t want to cut my day short in Cordoba by leaving too early so this was perfect.

The guy at the desk did tell me there was a recent crash on this airline. I had a slight buzz, I was spoiled by my luxury environs, the speed with which I could get to Mendoza was desirable, flying sounded grand and so I decided to hope for the best.

We outlined a few things I could do in the morning and early afternoon before my flight, I said thanked him for his help, said good night (because I couldn’t wait to choose a pillow!) and I went back to my room to book it.

I returned from my shopping and sightseeing adventure, put on my bathing suit, grabbed a book and I spent the rest of the day here. Delightful.

Truth be told it was a little lonely. Here I am in this gorgeous hotel in a pretty city and I was all alone. This was truly the first time I was alone. There wasn’t a single soul upstairs with me. At least in a hostel I would have had an easier time making friends. But I chose to spoil myself with a good night’s sleep and properly flushing toilets. But it was gorgeous.

The rain came early evening and signaled that my pool time was over. I went back to my room, and found this. Look carefully.

Yes, it’s a pillow menu. The other side actually had a little map laying out the pillows and identifying which pillow on my bed was which. I hadn’t even eaten dinner yet I couldn’t wait to go to bed! I showered and got ready for dinner.

I walked over to the small bar and had a glass of wine and chatted with the bartender. The hotel had a few guests but they were older and all going out for dinner — they were dressed much nicer than my nicest (and newest addition to my wardrobe).

I figured since my room was just down the hall, I could splurge and have two, or even three glasses of wine.

There wasn’t so much a restaurant as a few tables scattered outside the very small bar. I was the only customer at the bar, and in the restaurant, so I figured I would grab my laptop (since there was WiFi!), catch up on what was going on in the world, and figure out my plan for the following day.

The streets cleared out. So I took a different route back to the hotel and this is what I saw along the way.

Not sure what this was but I loved the stone work and the rounded wood doors.

This entire stand was selling fake flowers. They looked so real even standing next to them.

I popped into a mall — this didn’t have the same closing time as the center of town but I wasn’t in a shopping mood. It was a huge mall, and just like the one in Uruguay, advertising was everywhere!

No visit is complete without a stop at the local supermarket. I love browsing and seeing the brands and the logos I am familiar with, with their local name. I also like seeing the popular products and you can learn a lot about a country’s cultures and likes from browsing the markets.

Here, there was quite the selection of boxed wine, and Cepita, the South American equivalent of Minute Maid.

Note: When I was there, the exchange rate was approximately 4 Argentine Pesos to 1 US Dollar. That 6.49 you see for a box of wine is actually $1.62 USD.